The Book of Household Management, by Isabella Beeton

Chapter XXXVIII.

Invalid Cookery.

A Few Rules to Be Observed in Cooking for Invalids.

1841. LET all the kitchen utensils used in the preparation of invalids’ cookery be delicately and
‘scrupulously clean;’ if this is not the case, a disagreeable flavour may be imparted to the preparation, which flavour
may disgust, and prevent the patient from partaking of the refreshment when brought to him or her.

1842. For invalids, never make a large quantity of one thing, as they seldom require much at a time; and
it is desirable that variety be provided for them.

1843. Always have something in readiness; a little beef tea, nicely made and nicely skimmed, a few
spoonfuls of jelly, &c. &c., that it may be administered as soon almost as the invalid wishes for it. If
obliged to wait a long time, the patient loses the desire to eat, and often turns against the food when brought to him
or her.

1844. In sending dishes or preparations up to invalids, let everything look as tempting as possible. Have
a clean tray-cloth laid smoothly over the tray; let the spoons, tumblers, cups and saucers, &c., be very clean and
bright. Gruel served in a tumbler is more appetizing than when served in a basin or cup and saucer.

1845. As milk is an important article of food for the sick, in warm weather let it be kept on ice, to
prevent its turning sour. Many other delicacies may also be preserved good in the same manner for some little time.

1846. If the patient be allowed to eat vegetables, never send them up undercooked, or half raw; and let a
small quantity only be temptingly arranged on a dish. This rule will apply to every preparation, as an invalid is much
more likely to enjoy his food if small delicate pieces are served to him.

1847. Never leave food about a sick room; if the patient cannot eat it when brought to him, take it away,
and bring it to him in an hour or two’s time. Miss Nightingale says, “To leave the patient’s untasted food by his side,
from meal to meal, in hopes that he will eat it in the interval, is simply to prevent him from taking any food at all.”
She says, “I have known patients literally incapacitated from taking one article of food after another by this piece of
ignorance. Let the food come at the right time, and be taken away, eaten or uneaten, at the right time, but never let a
patient have ‘something always standing’ by him, if you don’t wish to disgust him of everything.”

1848. Never serve beef tea or broth with the smallest particle of fat or grease on the surface.
It is better, after making either of these, to allow them to get perfectly cold, when all the fat may be
easily removed; then warm up as much as may be required. Two or three pieces of clean whity-brown paper laid on the
broth will absorb any greasy particles that may be floating at the top, as the grease will cling to the paper.

1849. Roast mutton, chickens, rabbits, calves’ feet or head, game, fish (simply dressed), and simple
puddings, are all light food, and easily digested. Of course, these things are only partaken of, supposing the patient
is recovering.

1850. A mutton chop, nicely cut, trimmed, and broiled to a turn, is a dish to be recommended for
invalids; but it must not be served with all the fat at the end, nor must it be too thickly cut. Let it be
cooked over a fire free from smoke, and sent up with the gravy in it, between two very hot plates. Nothing is more
disagreeable to an invalid than smoked food.

1851. In making toast-and-water, never blacken the bread, but toast it only a nice brown. Never leave
toast-and-water to make until the moment it is required, as it cannot then be properly prepared — at least, the patient
will be obliged to drink it warm, which is anything but agreeable.

1852. In boiling eggs for invalids, let the white be just set; if boiled hard, they will be likely to
disagree with the patient.

1853. In Miss Nightingale’s admirable “Notes on Nursing,” a book that no mother or nurse should be
without, she says — “You cannot be too careful as to quality in sick diet. A nurse should never put before a patient
milk that is sour, meat or soup that is turned, an egg that is bad, or vegetables underdone.” Yet often, she says, she
has seen these things brought in to the sick, in a state perfectly perceptible to every nose or eye except the nurse’s.
It is here that the clever nurse appears — she will not bring in the peccant article; but, not to disappoint the
patient, she will whip up something else in a few minutes. Remember, that sick cookery should half do the work of your
poor patient’s weak digestion.

1854. She goes on to caution nurses, by saying — “Take care not to spill into your patient’s saucer; in
other words, take care that the outside bottom rim of his cup shall be quite dry and clean. If, every time he lifts his
cup to his lips, he has to carry the saucer with it, or else to drop the liquid upon and to soil his sheet, or bedgown,
or pillow, or, if he is sitting up, his dress, you have no idea what a difference this minute want of care on your part
makes to his comfort, and even to his willingness for food.”